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Superthreat: Ravenous
44tsI4IzGcg =Video Transcript= In 2019, the food supply chain is broken, so we’re inventing new ways to feed ourselves. Hardest hit: Mexico, China, The Middle East, The Processed Food Industry GEAS volunteers report from the front lines of the ravenous superthreat. GEAS volunteer mamaquila reports from Monterey City in Mexico where more than 30,000 have been rioting in the streets after the price of tortilla flour quadrupled for the third time in as many months. Economists say the price hikes are the result of two years of drought and the world’s insatiable demand for biofuels. Consumer anger was already stoked by rumours that as much as 95% of the corn crop this year would be tainted by toxins from polluted rivers and aquifers. Officials say that such rumours are ridiculous and anticipate only a 5% contamination rate. mamaquilas says, “If five percent of the population eats tainted corn, more than five million people will get sick or die.” Superstruct challenge: How can we balance the need for safe, affordable food with the need for new sources of energy? GEAS volunteer MysterZ is liveblogging from the Austrian Federated Railways OBB where more than 100 university students have mounted trains with hatchets and biohazard bags. The students are calling for the slaughter of the region’s chickens after several birds were found infected with the Avian Flu virus last week. MysterZ reports, “All trains are currently stalled. Meanwhile, crowds are gathering along the tracks to support the students. I’d say the birds are doomed.” Superstruct challenge: What can we do to improve our day-to-day food safety? GEAS volunteer Tomwell is texting updates from Central Court, New Zealand where a citizen blockade has formed to prevent food cargos from being transported into the country under the banner of “Zero Tolerance No Food Imports”. They are attempting to enforce a bottom-up local food movement. Other nations have threatened trade sanctions but New Zealanders are most aggressively raising the flag of food self-sufficiency. Tomwell reports, “I support the movement, but not sure this helps the rest of NZ industries, especially our film and video game industry. We don’t want to stop all trade, just food trade.” Superstruct challenge: When should we go food-local and when should we stay globally connected? GEAS volunteer shantigirl writes with breaking news from Geneva. The World Trade Organization has formally rejected the International Panel on Global Food Modeling recommendation to establish strict agro-ecological standards. The panel has argued that all WTO countries must embrace agro-ecological science in order to avoid a collapse of the natural-human food web by the end of this century but WTO officials say that the proposed standards will place undue pressure on the world’s global food industry which is already under siege from a rash of processed food lawsuits, localist food movements, and the high cost of staple food and energy. Shantigirl says, “The WTO is trying to look out for our critical food industries. That’s good, but we can’t ignore basic ecology. We need joint solutions, not more food fighting.” Superstruct challenge: How can we feed the world without destroying it? =Early Concepts= How can we balance the need for safe, affordable food with the need for new sources of energy? Encourage consumption of primary producers. Build relationships into the production and distribution process that enable symbiotic relationships between agroproducers and fuel/energy producers Futurecast the process by embdedding the relationship between energy/ affordable food into education efforts. Utilize food surpluses (uneaten remains) for fuel production. Identify surpluses through geotagging. Distribute edibles to people and utilize rots for fueld. Solving food production and distribution problems in a sustainable way means OpenSource collaborations between those working on Energy sources and those working on Agroinvention. All forums on either topic will always incorporate space/time and attention to the voices, inventions and ideas of each so that we have synergy in all solutions from the foundation. What can we do to improve our day-to-day food safety? *Home food testing kits *RFID produce bands for instant food recall ('Don't eat meeeeEEEEeee!') *Improved tracking methods for ingredients of processed foods. *Stricter standards for who can directly handle food items. *Alter human metabolism so it can eat a wider range of food safer. When should we go food-local and when should we stay globally connected? ₴ This notion of having to produce food locally on a massive scale brings to mind the "DIG FOR VICTORY" campaign promoted by the UK Government (Under the Premiership of Winston Churchill) during the Second World War. Every spare square meter of land was turned over to growing vegetables to feed the nation (http://www.homesweethomefront.co.uk/web_pages/hshf_dig_for_victory_pg.htm). They were even growing veg in Hyde Park in London! How can we feed the world without destroying it? * Apply permaculture principles where possible (for example: http://www.permaculture.org.uk/mm.asp?mmfile=whatispermaculture) and use bare urban spaces to grow food This seems like a very marginal issue (Bare urban spaces? We're talking maybe 1% of needed food production *if you're lucky*), rather than anything that'd make a systemic difference. 05:50, 13 October 2008 (UTC) Vertical Urban Farming *http://www.verticalfarm.com/ A proposal for highly productive farms in urban areas Link title